The Flash “Into The Speed Force” Review

I really miss Eddie and Ronnie and there’s apart of me that is 100% sure that one of the villains will be Eddie from a different earth and that Ronnie isn’t dead, he’s just on earth-2 wandering around. And don’t get me started on how much I miss Snart. The point is, I want all these characters to return, and even though it wasn’t in the way that I would have liked, it was great to see them again.

The main storyline of this episode was Barry going back into the speed force to save Wally from Savitar’s prison. When he goes into the speed force this time, it takes the forms of people who have sacrificed themselves for and because of Barry. People who he has inspired. The speed force shows Barry how the team’s lives would be different if Ronnie and Eddie hadn’t sacrificed themselves. While it does this it also asks Barry why he’s really in the speed force. After some prying Barry reveals that he wants to take Wally’s place in the speed force jail. The speed force doesn’t like that and send Black flash after him so we get our first Flash vs Black Flash fight. Barry is able to defeat him but at the cost of his tether back to our world. Barry is last visited by Snart. The speed force tells Barry that Snart sacrificed himself because Barry inspired him with his deeds. The speed force tells Barry that he is the one that has to change the future but when Barry says he can’t and that he’s not going to fight the speed force, the speed force says that him not fighting is the problem and attacks. Jay comes to his rescue and helps him free Wally and then takes Wally’s place in the prison. Barry’s whole experience in the speed force was to teach him responsibility. He comes out of it with the conclusion that he is he one that needs to stop Savitar, not Wally. He needs to fight to change the future and stop relying on other people. He also tells Iris that he does not like the way he’s been acting because of the future he’s seen and tells Iris that he’s going to change the future but he thinks they need a break. I really liked this storyline but I really hope that they save Jay by the end of the season and not go the way of another CW show and trap someone in a cage, say they will free him, and then go 7 seasons without saving him and also barely mentioning him. I also guess this ruins my theory of the 4 speedsters getting together and defeating Savitar. Bummer.

The B storyline of this episode was focused on Jesse, HR, and Savitar. Jese asked Cisco to track Savitar using the dagger from his armor. HR is vehemently against this and tries to talk her out of it multiple times. He wants to wait until Barry, “The real Flash”, comes back, which Jesse takes offense to, telling HR that, on her earth, she is the real Flash. She tells HR that he’s not her father, which he knows but he still cares for her. She finds Savitar and doesn’t do too well against him but she does manage to stab him with his own Dagger, showing her that underneath all the metal and LEDs, he’s just a man. I did find it a bit weird that Savitar gave up the fight right after that. But he did say that he had plans for Jesse. Something that she did not like hearing all that much. Because of this, and because of Jay being trapped in the Speed force now, she makes the decision to go to Earth-3 and become their Flash. I said I wanted them to explore Jesse and HR’s relationship a bit more and they did exactly that, which I am glad for. It was as complex and complicated as I expected. Jesse is trying to get over having such an overbearing father and HR trying to protect her probably seems like her father all over again. Like I said, I’m not quite sure why Savitar bolted after Jesse stabbed him. He is obviously faster and more well-versed on speedster powers so a stab in the shoulder being the thing that made him retreat seemed a bit….eh. I also have a question: Who is the flash of Earth-2. Jesse left for Earth-3 because they don’t have a flash but she was the Flash of Earth-2 and she left Earth-2 so….who is their Flash? I’m probably being nitpicky but these are still valid questions.

Overall I really like the episode. It was great to see some old faces and the story was well written. They also wrote a way to cut back on the speedster fx for a little while that didn’t seem forced or unnatural. They’re probably still trying to recover from the Gorilla city episodes.